Friday, February 12, 2010

Making History and Making Canada Count: Blackwolf Chooses Sides

I am deviating from our usual routine in my Diary of Magecraft because, as you might expect, we're going to witness a milestone tonight. For the first time, an Olympic Opening Ceremony will be held indoors. The XXI Olympic Winter Games will be launched in remarkable splendour at Vancouver's fantastic BC Place Stadium, which will also host the Closing Ceremonies as well.

Knowing the fools from NBC Sports and NBCOlympics.com, tonight's big show will be little more than talk, talk, talk, compliments of Bob Costas and friends; and will be overstuffed with commercials. (Overly American commercials, I might add.) There used to be a time, Mortals, when the networks respected variety entertainment. No longer. One does not go to commercial in the middle of a big production number. Happily, Canada's CTV Television Network has come to the rescue with CTVOlympics.ca; and, needless to say, your humble Dragonmaster will be hanging out with the CTV crew. Indeed, here are their plans:

For the first time in Canadian television history, a major domestic Canadian broadcaster will produce and deliver its very own exclusive coverage of the Opening Ceremonies of the XXI Olympic Winter Games. Airing LIVE TONIGHT, starting at 8:45 p.m. Eastern, 5:45 p.m. Pacific, the CTV Television Network promises a truly Canadian vision of this momentous Canadian event.

The telecast will air LIVE through Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, consisting of ten TV networks broadcasting in 11 languages, on two websites, over 24 radio stations and at 64 Cineplex Entertainment movie theatres across the Dominion. After the live broadcast, the Opening Ceremony will be available immediately on demand via CTVOlympics.ca and RDSOlympiques.ca. Throughout the following weekend, the event will be available on Video on Demand to all digital TV subscribers.

25 cameras will be placed at unique areas of BC Place Stadium, capturing every awesome moment. The Consortium will provide access to various international camera feeds, as well as incorporating live feeds of athletes and fans observing the Ceremony from the village of Whistler.

"To run our own destiny regarding all aspects of this telecast allows us to customize this show to a degree our viewers have never seen before," says Rick Chisholm, Executive Vice-President for Broadcasting for Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. "When Canada's flag is raised, our National Anthem is performed, and when all 206 of our Canadian Olympic Athletes march onto the field at the end of the Parade of Nations, we think that viewers all over Canada deserve a unique Canadian perspective that stands way above what everyone else in the world will see."

Anchoring CTV's English-language coverage will be decorated broadcaster and TSN Sports Senior Managing Editor Brian Williams. It's Brian's 13th Olympic Games. He'll team up with CTV News Senior Anchor Lloyd Robertson, who for over 50 years has guided Canadians through the most pivotal events in history. Rounding out the English-language team is Catriona Le May Doan, one of Canada's most highly decorated female Olympians. She'll provide insight into the excitement, nervousness and anticipation the athletes will be taking on as they prepare to hit the stage floor.

When Ivan Fecan, President and CEO, CTVglobemedia and CEO of CTV Inc., wanted the Opening Ceremony to serve as a shining beacon of excellence for his viewers, he wanted only one man to take on the challenge: Emmy Award-winning directorial icon Louis J. Horvitz! "Louis' experience in globally-celebrated live event productions made him the perfect director to take on the challenge of doing the Opening Ceremony," says Ivan.

"Being invited by the Consortium to direct the Opening Ceremony is a distinct honor for my family and me," says Louis. Louis Horvitz, Sr. was born in Hamilton, Ontario. "With my father being Canadian, he sees my participation as the crowning achievement of my career. I fully embrace the magnitude of the responsiblity that has been bestowed upon me to present this significant event to Canadians."

Louis J. Horvitz is a director of the highest order: 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, 12 Academy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors, the MTV Video Music Awards, the Super Bowl XXXVI Halftime Show Starring U2. Horvitz has been nominated for 13 Primetime Emmys, winning 6 of them for his work on the Academy Awards. He's also a DGA Award winner, and has earned two NAACP Image Awards for An Evening of Stars, in support of the United Negro College Fund. Last January, Mr. Horvitz directed the classic Kids Inaugural: We Are the Future! broadcast for Barack and Michelle Obama.

Horvitz' partner in the production truck for CTV's telecast of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be veteran producer and multiple Gemini Award winner Larry Issac, who has covered seven Olympic Games and 13 Stanley Cup Finals.

So, kids, as you can see, the goodlies at CTV and their family of networks are gonna have Olympic coverage that's gonna be cooler, that's gonna be far more fun, and, dare I say it, that's gonna be far more patriotic than NBC's coverage ever could be! If I may, then: BEAT THAT, JIM NANTZ, EH?